Rosetta: The comet chaser

Updated 6:55 PM ET, Sat January 24, 2015

Rosetta: The comet chaser27 photos

Rosetta: The comet chaser – The Rosetta spacecraft snapped this wide-angle view of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko in September 2014. It was released January 22, 2015, by the European Space Agency. Rosetta was about 107 million miles (172 million kilometers) from Earth and about 92 million miles (148 million kilometers) from the sun when the photo was released.

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Rosetta: The comet chaser27 photos

Rosetta: The comet chaser – A camera on Rosetta took this picture of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko on November 22, 2014, from a distance of about 19 miles (31 kilometers). The nucleus is deliberately overexposed to reveal jets of material spewing from the comet. The 2.5-mile-wide (4-kilometer) comet has shown a big increase in the amount of water its releasing, according to NASA. The space agency says about 40 ounces (1.2 liters) of water was being sprayed into space every second at the end of August 2014.

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Rosetta: The comet chaser27 photos

Rosetta: The comet chaser – Rosetta took this picture of a section of the comet's two lobes from a distance of about 5 miles (8 kilometers) on October 14, 2014.

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Rosetta: The comet chaser27 photos

Rosetta: The comet chaser – The Rosetta spacecraft's Philae lander is shown sitting on Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko after becoming the first space probe to land on a comet on November 12, 2014. The probe's harpoons failed to fire, and Philae bounced a few times. The lander was able to send back images and data for 57 hours before losing power.

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Rosetta: The comet chaser27 photos

Rosetta: The comet chaser – Rosetta's lander, Philae, wasn't able to get a good grip on the comet after it touched down. This mosaic shows Philae's movements as it bounced across the comet.

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Rosetta: The comet chaser – Philae snapped these images after landing, and mission scientists used them to create a panoramic view of the landing site. A graphic shows where the probe would be sitting in the photograph.

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Rosetta: The comet chaser27 photos

Rosetta: The comet chaser – The image of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko was taken by a camera on the Philae lander during its descent to the comet on November 12, 2014. The lander was about 1.9 miles (3 kilometers) from the surface at the time. Philae touched down on the comet about seven hours later.

Rosetta: The comet chaser – Rosetta's lander Philae took this parting shot of its mother ship shortly after separation on November 12, 2014, as Philae headed for a landing on Comet 67P. While Philae is the first probe to land on a comet, Rosetta is the first to rendezvous with a comet and follow it around the sun.

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Rosetta: The comet chaser – This mosaic is made of four individual images taken about 20 miles (31.8 kilometers ) from the center of the comet on November 4, 2014.

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Rosetta: The comet chaser – Rosetta took this image of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko on September 15, 2014. The box on the right shows where the lander was expected to touch down.

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Rosetta: The comet chaser – The spacecraft sent this image as it approached the comet on August 6, 2014. From a distance of nearly 81 miles (130 kilometers), it reveals detail of the smooth region on the comet's "body" section.

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Rosetta: The comet chaser – This image, captured August 7, 2014, shows the diversity of surface structures on the comet's nucleus.

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Rosetta: The comet chaser – The comet's "head" can be seen in the left of the frame as it casts a shadow over the "body" in this image released August 6, 2014.

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Rosetta: The comet chaser – This image of the comet was taken on August 1, 2014, as Rosetta closed in its target.

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Rosetta: The comet chaser – Rosetta's mission started on March 2, 2004, when it was launched on a European Ariane 5 rocket from Kourou, French Guiana.

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Rosetta: The comet chaser27 photos

Rosetta: The comet chaser – Rosetta is named after the Rosetta Stone, the black basalt that provided the key to deciphering Egyptian hieroglyphs. Scientists think the mission will give them new clues about the origins of the solar system and life on Earth. The mission is spearheaded by the European Space Agency with key support from NASA.

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Rosetta: The comet chaser – This photo shows Rosetta being tested before it was wrapped in insulating blankets and loaded on a rocket for launch.

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Rosetta: The comet chaser – Rosetta has massive solar wings to power the spacecraft. They were unfurled and checked out at the European Space Agency's test facilities before being packed up for liftoff.

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Rosetta: The comet chaser – After its closest approach to Earth in November 2007, Rosetta captured this image of the planet.

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Rosetta: The comet chaser – Rosetta snapped this image of Earth in November 2009. The spacecraft was 393,328 miles from Earth.

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Rosetta: The comet chaser – Rosetta passed asteroid Steins in September 2008, giving scientists amazing close-ups of the asteroid's huge crater. The asteroid is about 3 miles in diameter.

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Rosetta: The comet chaser – Rosetta took this image of Mars as it looped through the solar system.

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Rosetta: The comet chaser – This image was taken by an instrument on Rosetta's Philae lander just minutes before the spacecraft made its closest approach to Mars. Part of Rosetta and its solar arrays are visible.

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Rosetta: The comet chaser – On July 10, 2010, Rosetta flew about 1,864 miles from asteroid Lutetia, which is 10 times larger than asteroid Steins.

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Rosetta: The comet chaser – Look closely at the top of this picture. See that dot? That's Saturn. Rosetta snapped the picture of asteroid Lutetia and captured Saturn in the background.

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Rosetta: The comet chaser – After taking pictures of Earth, Mars and asteroids, Rosetta was put into hibernation in May 2011 after it reached the outer part of the solar system. Mission managers woke it January 20, 2014.

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The Rosetta spacecraft was launched in 2004 and arrived at Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko on August 6, 2014, becoming the first probe to rendezvous with a comet. On November 12, Rosetta deployed its Philae lander to the comet's surface -- another first. Rosetta will continue following the comet as it makes it way around the sun. Rosetta is a European Space Agency mission with contributions from NASA.